Free Web NovelChapter 282: Chapter 280: Carving Immortality
They cautiously asked Bai Zhou who those humans were.
Bai Zhou told them they were his kinsmen who had already achieved immortality.
The stone on the mountain, carved with the word "Immortal," was proof of their ascension.
Achieving immortality meant they would no longer die in the abyss or from Fishman invasions. They could live forever.
The Chali Race couldn’t understand the mechanics of it, and the humans all seemed perfectly normal. They had no choice but to let them live in the village as their numbers continued to grow.
This was Bai Zhou’s world, after all. The Chali Race simply used it as a way station, a place to regain their consciousness and communicate with one another. They didn’t have any strong feelings about the humans.
However, Bai Zhou’s state grew more and more unstable.
He often ran up the mountain, trying to carve a word onto the giant, blank boulder.
But everything in this world was born from his memories. In his memory, the boulder had no writing on it, so the boulder in this world had no writing.
So, Bai Zhou’s attempts to carve it were nothing but a fruitless effort.
Gradually, Bai Zhou stopped caring about the Fishman swarms outside and lost all interest in the Chali Race’s clandestine operations. He spent his days just teaching classes, wandering around the village, or, on a sudden whim, coming to the mountain to carve the stone.
And so it continued for two thousand two hundred years.
After endless regressions, Bai Zhou’s memories and thoughts had become a chaotic mess.
The records he had made himself had also faded with the erosion of time, becoming so blurred that even he could no longer make sense of them.
He gradually came to believe that only the events in this village were real and that the outside world didn’t exist. There was nothing the Chali Race could do but watch him slowly become what he was today.
For humans with limited lifespans, eternal life could only bring confusion and bewilderment. No matter how worried the Chali Race was about Bai Zhou, they were powerless to help.
They could only continue to carry out Bai Zhou’s will and fight against the Fishman swarms.
His apprentice slowly took Bai Zhou’s place, using his voice and doing the things his master had once done.
This world became their safe haven. They pretended not to know anything, continuing to attend Bai Zhou’s classes and blending in with the humans.
At this, the apprentice was clearly dejected.
"Why would the Chali Race go to such lengths? To you, isn’t Bai Zhou just an outsider?" Mo Ling asked, confused.
They not only mobilized their entire race to help Bai Zhou with his charade, causing their whole people to exist in a state where body and soul were separated, but they also upheld his will, fighting a continuous war against the Fishman swarms for two thousand two hundred years.
’Was it really worth it for them?’
"Master is not an outsider..."
"If it weren’t for Master, the Chali Race would still be living in ignorance, just like the Fishman Race."
"Before Master came to the island, the thing we did most on the island was sit on the cliffs by the sea and watch the fish in the ocean."
"Back then, we’d have a contest to see who among us could cross paths with the fish the most times. The highest count won. We did this year after year, day after day."
"Until I saw Master by the sea..."
"Master brought us civilization. Helping the one who brought civilization to the Chali Race get his revenge... that shouldn’t be so hard to understand, right? To repay a debt of gratitude—that’s a principle Master taught us as well."
He looked at Bai Zhou, who was still smashing the giant boulder, and said in a firm tone.
"If it were humans, they would surely do the same as us. If we were to face a calamity, Master would definitely avenge us, wouldn’t he?"
Hearing the apprentice’s question, Mo Ling felt a flicker of doubt.
’If they were human, would they really do the same?’
Mo Ling lowered his head.
He didn’t know.
’After weighing the pros and cons, would humans really choose to make such a sacrifice?’
In this matter, humans, with their more advanced civilization and more complex thoughts, would not necessarily do better than the Chali Race.
"I want to ask you to do us a favor," the apprentice said to Mo Ling.
"What favor?"
"Didn’t you gain control over the Fishman swarm? Is there any way for you to carve a word on this stone—the word ’Immortal’?"
He looked at the still-struggling Bai Zhou and said with heartache, "I don’t want to see Master like this anymore."
Hearing his words, Mo Ling was stunned.
"Just that?"
"Yes." He nodded weakly.
Mo Ling wanted to agree, but he had no way of controlling the swarm’s authority. He had always used the Fishman system to do it before, but now, without his armor, he had no idea where that authority even resided.
However, Mo Ling had another way.
"I’ll try," he said to the apprentice, then walked over to Bai Zhou’s side.
By now, fresh blood had soaked Bai Zhou’s hands, and the boulder was smeared with bloody streaks.
Mo Ling looked at the spot where Bai Zhou was smashing and activated his teleportation.
Although he couldn’t use the swarm’s authority, Mo Ling still had his own teleportation ability.
This time, when Bai Zhou raised his hand, he was surprised to find a small, square hole on the boulder. He stared at the indentation, overjoyed, and continued to strike.
Mo Ling kept his eyes glued to the spot Bai Zhou was striking. With every blow, Mo Ling would teleport a tiny piece of the boulder away, creating a small indentation. The resulting divots were crooked, but at least it was having an effect.
The boulder didn’t heal itself like before. It seemed the indentations were there to stay.
Gradually, by following the points of Bai Zhou’s impacts, Mo Ling managed to chip away the rough outline of a word.
It was the word "Immortal," written in Small Seal Script.
Bai Zhou smashed away at the final stroke with all his might, letting the sharp stone scrape wound after wound into his palm. Blood splattered from his hand, but he paid it no mind.
He threw himself onto the boulder, using his last ounce of strength to stretch out that final stroke.
Mo Ling carefully teleported away bits of stone, helping Bai Zhou complete the final stroke little by little.
’It should be over now, right?’
Mo Ling looked at Bai Zhou, who had collapsed to the ground. Covered in blood, he stared dazedly at the boulder, and Mo Ling couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.
’Why did it have to turn out like this?’
However, Bai Zhou didn’t stop. He suddenly stood up, trembling, raised the rock, and once again smashed it towards the giant boulder.
"Immortal!"
Mo Ling thought perhaps a stroke was still unfinished, but when he looked closer, he saw that Bai Zhou was just randomly striking the existing marks.
With Bai Zhou’s next strike, the boulder suddenly trembled.
Then, under his rhythmic blows, the vibrations spread from the boulder to the ground and out into the distance.
"Immortal!"
Bai Zhou’s shouts also echoed out along with the vibrations.
Mo Ling seemed to hear countless people around him shouting the same thing.
"Immortal! Immortal! Immortal!"
The entire world was screaming, roaring, crying out for the immortality in Bai Zhou’s heart.
This was Bai Zhou’s world, a reflection of his innermost self.
A tremor washed over them. Everything in Mo Ling’s line of sight began to fall apart in the violent shaking. But these fixed objects, born of memory, didn’t have the property of being "damaged."
It was just that everything broke away from its original form, becoming individual objects that were flung into the sky with each tremor.
"What in the world is happening!"
Standing on the shaking ground, Mo Ling shouted at Bai Zhou in front of him.
Right now, only the master of this world could answer his question.
Hearing Mo Ling’s call, Bai Zhou’s hand, which was holding the stone, paused for a moment, and the tremors stopped with it.
But just as quickly, the hand holding the stone smashed down again.
A teardrop, mixed with blood, splattered onto the ground...
